THE TROTTING DEAD
by Chaos Princess Cyclone
Summary: Princess Sugarcube, one of the princesses' old friends, has suddenly vanished. But the cause is not so mysterious. Because of Twilight's evil ways later during the Pony Uprising, ponies everywhere had been infected, causing them to turn into Zomponies. The three princesses of chaos, Cyclone, S and RJ are stuck in the middle of the anarchy, changing to override the wretched disease.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

All was well in Canterlot. Princess Sugarcube, visiting from a small kingdom next to Horseshoe Bay, was living it up. Everypony in Central Equestria had grown tired of Cadence and Twilight, and needed a new princess to look up to, besides their co-rulers, Princess Luna and Celestia. Now she relaxed in the guest bedroom of the Great Castle of the two sisters, sipping tea with three sugar cubes, using her magical horn. Although her coat was purple and her mane was pink, her magical aura was golden.

Classical music played from a radio, sending Princess Sugarcube into a deep sleep, her sugary tea on the table next to her luxurious purple bed.

. . .

A soft groan penetrated through Princess Sugarcube's door. "Who is it?" she called, still in bed. When no reply came, she decided it was just in her head. Wait…there it was again! Who would dare interrupt such a raving celebrity at this hour, not to mention twice? Aggravated, she hopped out of bed. But before addressing this obnoxious subject of Canterlot, she decided to further perfect her mane. The purple, winding mane of Princess Sugarcube was never matted, never dull, never tangled. Yet princesses should always strive for a mane fitting the alicorn they are.

Once she had finished combing through it and bouncing it back to curls, Princess Sugarcube turned towards the large door of the bedroom. Her eyes narrowed, and she was ready to confront the grunting, groaning pony behind the door. _Stop it,_ she scolded herself. _Princesses are understanding, forgiving ponies. Maybe the whole thing was a misunderstanding__. _Princess Sugarcube held her pale purple hoof to her chest, then straightened it out and counted to ten. She had learned this method from her less popular princess friend, Cadence.

Finally, Princess Sugarcube trotted to the door. The groaning and moaning and grunting had started up yet again. Then she stared in horror when she opened the door. There, standing in front of her, was the source of the sound. A green alicorn with halfrotten flesh stood there, her cutiemark the great big sun of Princess Celestia.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Princess Sugarcube screamed in horror, then slammed the door shut using her magical horn. She practically rammed into the window before, once again, using her magic to send it up.

Just then, Princess Celestia the Zompony sent the great doors of Princess Sugarcube's suite flying open. More moans dragged on from her. Princess Sugarcube didn't realize she was standing still until she was less than a yard away.

Princess Sugarcube flew out of the window with such speed even Rainbow Dash would be impressed. Big. Mistake.

Ponies of every race swarmed the castle and skies, making Princess Sugarcube shutter_. Of_ _course_, she thought._ Canterlot is the top city on the map. There will be too many Zomponies to outsmart or outrun._

Princess Sugarcube soared as high as she dared, in fear of not getting oxygen, and overlooked the city. She was trying to find survivors. THERE! A young little filly and her mother crept around the once elegant streets, which were now coated in dust and blood.

Even if they wouldn't be helpful allies in the wake of the Trotting Dead, she had to help them to the best of her ability. Princess Sugarcube dived down, aiming for the weak duo earth ponies on the ground.

Little did she know, a Pegasus with a light blue coat and a striking rainbow mane had suspected this. Her cannibal teeth tore into Princess Sugarcube's flesh, brainwashed by the Zompony disease, before gliding down to feast on the earth ponies below.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

"S, can you light up the room? My magic feels drained," Rainbow Jewel groaned. They were in an underground bunker, dimly lit by torches in the distance. RJ and I had just fought off a wave of Zomponies in the streets of Ponyville with our chaos magic, leaving us exhausted and our magic weakened for the time being.

"Sure," said S, who had remained inside due to her kind heart. Selene Star, my other sister, was too soft to fight, battle and kill Zomponies who were once gentle citizens of Equestria. She could let out some chaos magic if needed, but she preferred to tend to the wounded and attempt to cure to the disease that started up the Zompony Apocalypse.

Hours went by, then days. It seemed like each day were the same, blended into one giant mass of horror and hiding. The Zompony Uprising was a mysterious yet sudden disaster that struck Equestria all at once. Before the rotten-fleshed ponies made the majority of Equestria's population, wide-eyed ponies whispered about another royal princess, Princess Sugarcube's disappearance. She had been staying at the castle in Canterlot. Since Canterlot had been infected, no royals, servants or commoners have contacted the outside world of Equestria.

"Do you think we'll live?" I asked. S looked downward and dug her hoof into the dirt.

RJ didn't do the same thing. "Of course we'll live, Cyclone! You've got hurricanes, tornadoes, thunderstorms…you name it. S can heal anything, and, even without strong chaos magic, can take a DRAGON head-on!" RJ looked confident, jutting her nose upward and standing tall. "Plus, you two've got me, the awesomest pony around, not to mention top fighter of Equestria!" Rainbow Jewel shouted triumphantly.

I blushed, then, seeing as I had become vulnerable, I steeled myself, having a straight, level poker face. Then, remembering these were my sisters and friends, I became loose. Just a little.

"But can you be sure?" I replied. "I mean, I don't doubt for a second what you said, RJ. But, can you be sure the Zomponies don't eat us in our sleep? Or that we just can't beat the whole race of them? I'm scared, RJ. I can't be the tough girl around you guys all the time."

RJ now, too, glared at the ground, pawing the Earth. Now S spoke. "I find logic in hoping for the best. Seeing only the negative aspects of any situation can cause you to miss opportunities, neglect problems that need to be solved, and-"

"OK, OK, we get it. I should be more optimistic, although it's kind of hard to do that with flesh-eating Zomponies walking above us, sniffing out survivors," I said sarcastically. S gave me a stare she had picked up from Fluttershy. "OK, I'm serious," I added. "I'll be more optimistic from now on."

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" a muffled voice shouted from above ground. My sisters and I looked upwards, startled by the blood-curdling scream from above.

"We have to help that lady!" S said. She whipped out a magic book she had stolen from a Zompony infested house last week. No one questioned S being up there with RJ and I. She could handle herself.

It wasn't rejection, but RJ laid out something serious. "What if this pony already got eaten? We go up there to save her, she's already one of them, and just joins her new kind to kill us? We'd have to rely on pure luck to pull this off, even with regular magic, chaos magic, alicorn magic, AND flying."

She was right. But if we played along stealthily, we may be able to bring this mare back down under to our bunker without fighting off too many Zomponies. And then maybe S could heal her from any scratches or wounds. I shared my idea.

"It's just crazy enough to actually work!" exclaimed S.

S flew open the cap on the long tube that led upward. It was designed so that only trained pegasi (and alicorns) could get back up after falling down. S and I had designed it that way, so that if we ever had to flee our bunker from Zomponies being in there, we could leave the earth ponies and unicorn Zomponies in there, then close the cap so that not even pegasi could come out. We were kinda sorta GENIUSES!

We all flew up scanning the area. No Zomponies. We all found this dangerously strange. Where had they all gone? Then, the scream went through the area again. It sounded familiar. We followed the sound trail, and soon found all of the Zomponies. And Pinkie Pie.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

I gawked in disbelief, since I had great reason to believe that all of the six friends had been dead, or Zomponies. As far as we knew, Twilight had created the disease from mixing plants in the Everfree Forest with Timber Wolf essence. She was the first Zompony. Rainbow Dash had been bitten, believing that Zompony pegasi could not fly and reach her resting in Cloudsdale. She was one of the scariest Zomponies, considering how fast she was in life. We were never sure if Rarity, Applejack, Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy, RJ's and S's adoption mother, were still safe from the virus. But here Pinkie stood. But not for long.

"HHHHEEERRREEE! ALL YOU ZOMPONIES NEED TO GET YOUR BUTT OVER HERE AND AWAY FROM THAT WEAKLING, EASY MEAL. IF YOU EAT US, YOU'LL BE WELLFED FOR DAYS!" coaxed RJ. It was a bit offensive to Pinkie Pie, but it did the trick and snapped S and I back into reality. The Zomponies began their leisurely trot towards us. Mouths watering.

Pinkie Pie looked very grateful, yet torn up with several scratch marks over her once-pink mane. It was now covered in blood and dirt, as if she'd been scavenging for food and fighting off Zomponies and starvation bare-hoofed. I thought of how much easier we had it than earth ponies in the Apocalypse. Poor Pinkie.

My mind snapped back into the present – again – and I realized how close they were getting. "It's time to get dirty!" I shouted with glee. I loved combat. A sly grin slipped across my face.

My magical aura was metallic blue, and I was the only recorded unicorn or alicorn to have that color. I made my horn glow, and a swirling tornado began above my horn. The large, grey twirl became deadlier every moment. I saw that RJ begun an at LEAST level 10 earthquake, sending the Zomponies into panic and making them run in circles, avoiding the cracks in the earth. I was jealous of her fighting skills, but I was certain I could show her up. Finally! My vortex was finished, and I was SSSOOOO very ready to release it. And I did.

Zomponies remaining unharmed above the surface were instantly swept into the blotches of the earth, and the rest swallowed whole in my Tornado of Doom (as I called it, for it was the most powerful of its kind). I shot a glance at RJ, and was relieved that she was utterly impressed as she was staring at the mass destruction I created with her jaw dropped more than two inches lower than it should be. YES!

"Great moves, Cyclone. _Cyclone. _Cy. Sick. I'll call you Sick. The _si_ sound from Cyclone, which matches up with your SICK moves. Don't you like it, S?" said RJ. S nodded, smiling.

Then I remembered. "PPPIIINNNKKKIIIIEEE!" I screamed, my eyes examining the broken streets.

"I'm right here!" she said in a raspy voice. Pinkie looked cheerful, but her voice was so depressing.

S must have noticed this. "Maybe I have some herbs that can help your throat in the bunker."

"You – You guys have a bunker?" Pinkie's eyes looked hopeful. I realized that this whole time she had been living in the streets. No allies. No sense of security while sleeping or roaming around.

"Yeah. S, Sick and I built it out of metal parts we found in a garage. When it comes to these conditions, there's no such thing as stealing," RJ injected. I don't think Rainbow deciphered Pinkie's former predicament. I sighed. RJ wasn't ever the sensitive type, anyways. I knew this even though I didn't know either S or RJ until the Pony Uprising against Twilight and Celestia.

It was a pretty awkward walk back, considering Pinkie did not have a spring in her step, RJ did not fly above us, twirling and bragging, and, actually, S _was_ staying quiet, like she usually did. I guess being around a former friend of Twilight, who went crazy before accidentally killing herself, had that affect. But so was – MOM!

Tears burst out, and I dealt with my mom being not only drained of her power from Twilight during the Uprising, but a Zompony who was responsible for most ponies being infected. The others had never seen me cry, not even during Rainbow Dash's (my mom's) funeral march.

S seemed concerned but knew I was about to explode. RJ didn't know. "Hey, Sick. What's wrong?" she said.

I responded with a burst of energy. My Tornado of Doom made a reappearance. Grey, depressing dust and water revolved around me like a whirlpool, growing stronger and larger with each of my tears. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHH!" I wailed with such ferocity that the remaining ground of Ponyville trembled. This was chaos magic at its finest.

"SICK! YOU HAVE TO CALM DOWN! WE'LL MISS RD TOO, EVEN IF HER NAME WAS TOO SIMILAR TO MINE! SHE WAS THE BEST TRAINER WE COULD HAVE EVER HAD!" RJ screamed, trying to overcome the loudness of my freak weather. "YOU'RE NOT THE ONLY ONE HERE WHO HAS SUFFERED A LOST! THINK ABOUT DISCORD!"

The twister ceased. I had never really known Discord well enough to break down and cry during the news of his death. But the understanding that the others have felt this way before yet handle it better made me steel myself. I can't act like an out of control wimp. Although out of control does mean chaos, there are better ways to show my strength. Like in battle, not saddening moments.

"Cyclone – er, Sick. Why don't you take a nap? We'll scavenge the bunker for remaining tools," exclaimed S.

I must have seemed like a dummy, for my lips were a centimeter apart, and I was staring into space. Then I remembered what I was looking like that for. "_Scavenge? _Why would we have to scavenge for anything in our bunker? Unless – "

"Rainbow Jewel's earthquake collapsed the bunker," Pinkie said. "We discovered the bunker was ruined while you were making hot and cold air swirl around each other, thus forming a tornado." We all stared at Pinkie Pie, for I and neither S or RJ had ever heard Pinkie talk so… sophisticated. Did the Zompony Apocalypse corrupt Pinkie's happiness? Did depression deepen her voice and make it raspy?

Either way, we'd have to grab the necessities, pack up, and search for a new shelter in the Zompony infested streets.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

After scouring the imploded once-safe house, we set off into the now unknown streets of Ponyville with a shortened supply of tools. We had obscured nine cans of food, wretched-tasting food, by the way, a machete, a gun, vials of various mysterious liquids S had been testing for a cure, two refillable containers of freshwater, and two tents. I wish I hadn't damaged the bunker.

Two days had passed since the destruction of our home, and the stakes were much higher now than they ever were before. A tent to keep us away from the dangerous Zomponies lurking around, we constantly had a watch guard.

"My hooves hurt!" RJ whined.

Tired of her continuous complaints, I snapped, "THEN FLY FOR CELESTIA'S SAKE! YOU HAVE WINGS, DON'T YOU?"

RJ recoiled, shocked at my rude suggestion. "Jeez!" she muttered, then, clearly thinking of the wisdom in it, began to flap her wings, barely hovering above the ground.

S turned to me. "Cyclone, what's gotten into you? Why are you being so sour?"

I scowled. "Just mind your own business!" I shot at her.

RJ and S exchanged a glance, and then continued walking. Pinkie stalked gradually behind them, obviously slow with fatigue. "We should rest," I declared defiantly, waiting for an opposing statement from the others. All I received was three nods from sleep-deprived ponies.

…

Moaning sounded from outside of the tent. "S," I whispered. She shuddered and turned, but did not wake up. "S!" I whisper-shouted. _Moaning._

"What!"

"Ssshhh!" I hushed her. "There are Zomponies. Come help me drive them off."

S looked confused. "That's you and Rj's job."

"RJ's in the other tent, it's too dangerous to try and get her without attracting more Zomponies."

"Fine," S said.

I leaped up onto my hooves and began to unzip the tent with my magic. I signalled to S with three hoof stomps to jump out in "1, 2, 3!"

I launched out of the tent, S flanking me. _There!_ A Zompony lingered in the well-trodden streets of Ponyville. I sent a volley of thundering, raining clouds to the Zompony. It ran in circles, until a flash of lightning took it out instantly.

I saw S swallow hard. "You okay?" I questioned.

She looked nervous. "Yeah. I just… they were once just like us. It's hard for me to accept that we have to… do the unthinkable."

I glared at my hooves. "I know what you mean. But we have to."

S nodded solemnly, turning towards the tent. I followed her, but before her or I reached the tent, we heard a LOT more moaning. We both whipped around, staring at the dozens of Zomponies that had formed ranks around us. "Attack!" I said to S.

I raced to a clear area so that I could whip up a storm. I created miniature tornadoes and sent them hurtling towards a team of Zomponies, sending them farther away from S and I. I was just about to create a break in the earth, when I fell to the ground.

My eyes were closed in the feeling of a large absence. _How was this happening? _I wondered. "My chaos magic!" I shouted. "It's gone!"

Glancing around, searching for S, I realized she was gone.

…

"Attack!" Cyclone said. S charged forward, unsure what to do in the situation. Cyclone was stronger in chaos magic, and usually battled enemies with weather of some sort. Rainbow Jewel, if she were up, would either battle using some weather moves, or try to get in the minds of the Zomponies. S had no strategy.

Scanning the groups of Zomponies lurking around, S decided on a tactic.

She squeezed her eyes shut and teleported herself to another location, launched her hoof rapidly to strike a Zompony, and then transmitted herself to another section. She repeated this strategy once more before something strange happened. She readied herself to beam to a site only a few yards away in order to fight the Zomponies with her new technique, but, before she did, all of the Zomponies stopped in their tracks.

The mares and colts with rotten flesh had just… halted. S was bewildered. She then turned to where Cyclone was standing, and, not to her surprise, she was also frozen. _Am I doing this?_

In an instant, she was no longer in the streets of Ponyville.

"S."

S turned to the voice, and was instantly shocked to see her mother staring back at her.

"Mom…" Selena wanted to say so many things to her deceased mother.

"No. This is a time of listening, Selena Star." Luna said solemnly.

"You will not be Selena from this day on. You will not be just the weak-link of the princesses." _Just because I don't have strong chaos magic does NOT mean I am the weak-link! _"You will be granted stronger chaos magic, even if I did believe that it should've been disposed of.

"You will be the first of your sisters to transform into a new symbol of hope throughout the Zompony age." S's body began to shimmer with a strange glow. "You will be a new pony from this day forth."

Selena became enveloped in a red light. She couldn't even see her body through the blinding rays. "Luna, I don't want to be a different pony!" she shouted helplessly into the body of light.

The light finally died out, and when it did, Luna no longer stood in S's path. But her voice remained.

"You will become Crystal Leaf, the princess of time and space." 'Crystal Leaf' looked down at her blue body. _Luna was lying! She had to have been, for she was the same pony as before._ What a relief! She thought, as a strand of red hair fell into her vision.

"Wait a minute," she said in bewilderment. "I… don't have red hair!" she said overwhelmed. Also, where was she? She looked around, and was even more shocked to find that she was on the surface of the moon. Then, she wasn't.

She was back with Cyclone, in the midst of some Zomponies. Adrenaline ran through her and she charged towards them. Once-again, they stopped in their tracks. She froze as well, in confusion, before continuing. Luna had said she was the princess of time. She would be able to control when this happened, eventually.

She struck the Zomponies, causing them to fall to the ground. Then everypony began moving again. Finally at ease, she turned to where Cyclone was standing.

"S!" Cyclone shouted.

S whipped around. Cyclone's eyes grew wide. "I do not think I am meant to be 'S' anymore." Cyclone recoiled in shock at the news. "I… think that I am supposed to be Crystal Leaf."

"Um, Sel – er, Crystal Leaf, there's something you should know…"

"S!" RJ shouted, scrambling out of the tent. "You're an earth pony!"


End file.
